Will You Be My Valentine?
by starry night blue
Summary: [COMPLETE!] James is terrified of his first date with Lily, but with Sirius tagging along under the Invisibility Cloak to give him instructions, he starts to feel a lot better about it...or should he?
1. Chapter 1

**D/C: I don't own Harry Potter; it's a property of Mrs. Rowling…but that still won't stop me from waiting _impatiently _for the sixth book!**

**Here goes another Harry Potter story of mine…I got the idea to this one as I started to doze off in my bed at 2 o'clock in the morning, and I had to wait till the next day to start writing it! And here it is now, I hope you like it!!**

**WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?**

**Chapter 1:**

'I did it!! I just know what made me do it!! I just did it!!'

Sirius Black looked skeptically over the top of his copy of _Quidditch through the Ages _at his friend who was sitting across from him on the table. 'For some one who had just asked the girl of his dreams out on a date, you don't seem too happy about it,' he told him, frowning slightly.

Even Remus Lupin looked up from his copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them_ to frown at James. 'Really, James, I thought you liked Lily, so why do you seem so horrified at the prospect of having to go out with her?' he asked.

'I'm not _terrified _of my date with Lily!' James Potter said irritably. 'No, I'm just worried I might do something which might upset her or offend her…this is the only chance I'll ever get to show her who I truly am!'

Peter Pettigrew looked up from the particularly blank star-chart he was trying to fill. 'But you're perfect!' he said enthusiastically. 'I know you would never do anything which might offend Lily!'

James sighed and rolled his eyes, while Sirius tried his best to stifle a laugh. 'Thanks for the encouragement, Wormtail,' he said wearily.

'How did she agree to go out with you, then?' Remus asked, rather interestedly.

'That was the worst part!' James exclaimed, looking aghast. 'I was just asking out like I always do when I meet her, and I expected her to turn me don't like she always does, but she didn't! She actually agreed to go out with me, and I stood there looking like an idiot for a whole moment, before I set the day for our date!'

They all burst out laughing. James, on the contrary, didn't think it was so funny. He sat there glaring at the three of them, before Sirius finally stopped laughing and clapped him on the shoulder. 'Relax, mate, and thank your luck it doesn't get any worse,' he wheezed.

James looked coolly at him. 'Now that you mention it, it does get worse,' he muttered, and they stopped laughing at once to hear what he was going to say next. 'Know when our next Hogsmeade trip is?'

'No,' Remus said slowly. 'When?'

'The fourteenth of February! Yes, on Valentine's day!!' he said furiously, and they started laughing again. 'Cut it out!'

Remus slammed his book shut and stood up from the table, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. 'Sorry, James,' he said. 'I'd love to sit and try to come up with a solution for your…er…heartache, but I'm feeling really tired now and need to go to bed…good night.'

'Yeah, me too,' Peter said hurriedly, scrambling up to his feet. 'Good night, James…Sirius.'

And he set off after Remus, who was heading for the staircase leading to their dormitories, and started pestering him with questions about stars and planets.

'Oh, what have I gotten myself into?' James moaned, putting his head in his hands.

Sirius, who had been leaning back on his rear chair legs, let his chair fall back onto all four legs with a bang, and leaned forward towards James. 'Listen, mate, I don't mean offence or anything, but you're not good in the girls' department, you know,' he said quietly.

'I'm not offended,' James said, looking at him from between his fingers. 'You seem to be getting at something…go on.'

Sirius grinned maliciously. 'Well, I couldn't say this in front of the other two; Remus would be sure to disapprove and Peter will probably spread it around the whole castle by tomorrow morning, you know what a blabbermouth he could be…' he said.

'Yes, yes, I know,' James said impatiently. 'And…?'

Sirius continued to grin. 'Well, how about I accompany you on your date with Evans, and give you pointers on how to treat her?' he asked.

James frowned for a moment, and then he, too, grinned as realization dawned upon his face. 'Under the Invisibility Cloak?' he whispered excitedly.

'Under the Invisibility Cloak,' Sirius echoed.

'Sirius, mate, you're a lifesaver!' James exclaimed, looking a lot more relaxed. 'I really owe you one!'

Sirius yawned audibly. 'You owe me lots of ones, Prongs,' he reminded him. 'Now, let's see we gotta work on a way to communicate without making Lily suspicious…I know I will be invisible, but I don't think I'll be soundless.'

'Right,' James agreed. 'We have to find a spell which will enable you to talk freely with me being the only one to hear you.'

'And we have to do that by Saturday…which is only two days away,' Sirius added.

-

**On Saturday Afternoon…**

'Sirius, are you there?' James asked urgently.

'Yeah, I'm here, mate, don't fret,' Sirius drawled.

'Shhh!! Keep your voice down! People will hear you!' James hissed. 'It'll look suspicious if people heard voices coming out of thin air!'

'People won't hear me, you moron, I have the spell on, remember?' Sirius snapped, sounding impatient. 'And besides, people will be more suspicious if they saw you _talking_ to thin air, don't you think?'

'Yeah, right…sorry,' James muttered. 'I'm just too nervous.'

After spending a couple of hours in the library, and with a little bit of help from Professor Flitwick, they had managed to find the spell they wanted. _Privèté Conversar_; a spell which would enable Sirius to talk as much as he wanted and as loudly as he wanted, and yet, having no one hear him but James. The pair found it quite useful since Sirius was supposed to be instructing him throughout the date, and Lily wasn't supposed to know of that.

'There's your date!' Sirius exclaimed, spotting Lily coming down a staircase. 'Remember, when she comes, you greet her…'

'I know! I know!' James hissed.

'…and tell her how pretty she looks,' Sirius finished. 'And don't ever talk to me while you're with her…I think she'll notice that.' James nodded, looking extremely grim. 'And stop looking like you've just lost your best friend…smile!'

James forced a smile onto his face as Lily approached. 'Hi!' he said, in a voice which came out somewhere between a bark and a quack. From some place next to him, he heard the distinctive voice of someone slapping his forehead.

Lily was obviously trying not to laugh. 'Hi, James,' she said quietly.

'You…er…you look nice,' he said, sounding slightly breathless. What was wrong with him? He had always managed to make a normal conversation with Lily, so why was he being really nervous now…on their date!

'Thanks,' Lily said softly.

There was an awkward silence in which Sirius was screaming, "Talk! Talk!!", in his ear.

'So, shall we go, then?' James finally asked.

'Yes, let's go,' she agreed.

They joined the queue of people being signed out by Argus Filch. James kept glancing at Lily, trying to catch her eye, but Lily seemed to have become mildly interested in the braid of the girl in front of her, and didn't look at him.

'Whatever you do, don't hold her hand or touch her yet…she won't like it,' Sirius was telling him.

James nodded, and they moved further up the queue.

'Damn it! It's really difficult to move in this cloak!' Sirius mumbled from behind him, and he heard a couple of girls squeal in pain as Sirius treaded on their feet. 'Sorry!'

James had to fight the impulse to burst out with laughter, because Lily was starting to look at him.

'That was a close call,' Sirius said quietly. 'Let's just hope nothing like that happens during the date.'

**A/N: But will Sirius get what he's hoping for? Wait for the next chapter to find out! It killed me to have to use Peter, but he was there with them in the same year, and I couldn't exclude him.**

**Oh, and if you did like this chapter, would you plz submit a review? I could do with the encouragement!**

_**- **S. N. B._


	2. Chapter 2

**D/C: I don't own Harry Potter…does owning the books count, though? Nah; guess not.**

**I'm back!! Thank you all for the nice reviews! I really didn't expect to get that many! Oh, and about Valentine's Day being in November…sorry, that was my mistake…call it weird, but I always mix up between November and February, and I really dunno why! I fixed the error, anyway. And I did intend to make this a one-shot, but changed my mind…**

**Anyway, happy reading!**

**WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?**

**Chapter 2:**

'Potter, James…and Evans, Lily…is that right?' Filch said gruffly, looking at them over the top of his clipboard. The pair nodded quickly, and he stepped aside to let them pass. 'Don't come back covered in filth and mud…I have enough cleaning to do without you messing the castle up for me!'

James and Lily hurried away from him. James could hear Sirius struggling to keep up with them in the Invisibility Cloak. 'You ought to be really grateful for this, James!' he fumed. 'It's not everyday that I do such favors for people!'

'Yeah, yeah,' James muttered, rolling his eyes.

Lily frowned at him. 'What?' Lily said, and he quickly shook his head. Still frowning, she looked back at Filch, who was now telling off a small first-year. 'Oh, he's horrible,' she said viciously. 'I wonder why Professor Dumbledore keeps him.'

'Well, some one has to clean the castle,' James remarked. 'Did you know he's a Squib?'

Lily gawked at him. 'Really?' she said, looking surprised. 'Well, that explains why he hates the students…they can do magic and he can't.'

'Yeah,' James agreed.

'Ask her where she wants to go,' Sirius instructed him.

'Er…where do you want to go?' James asked, looking sideways at Lily.

'Wherever, I really don't mind,' Lily said, smiling at him. When she saw that he was looking a bit at loss, she laughed. 'Well, why don't we have a look around or something? And then go into the Three Broomsticks for a drink?'

James grinned. 'Good idea,' he said, sounding relieved.

'Thank your luck she didn't tell you to take her to Madam Puddifoot's,' Sirius muttered from behind him. 'A girl I once dated took me in there, and the place was full of kissing couples…it was horrible!'

James tried his best to stifle his laughter at this. He and Lily wandered off into Hogsmeade, talking as they walked. They first stopped at Deverish and Banges; there they came across Remus and Peter. Remus was helping the later pick out instruments which would help him in Astronomy.

'Have you seen Sirius, James?' Remus asked.

'Er…no,' James said, and there was some kind of truth in that; since Sirius was invisible and James _really _couldn't see him. 'He...erm...said something about wanting to finish off an essay...or something like that.'

Sirius snorted with laughter. Remus and Peter, on the other hand, looked highly surprised.

'Sirius wants to finish an essay rather than visit Hogsmeade?' Peter said incredulously. 'Is he okay?'

'Yeah, he's fine,' James assured him, and glanced at Lily, who was standing next to him. 'Well, I'll see you later, guys.'

Once they were out, Lily turned to look at him. 'Did Sirius really skip Hogsmeade to do homework?' she said, surprised. 'I thought he didn't really care about doing homework, and that all what he felt like doing was bullying people around.'

'Hey!' Sirius protested.

'C'mon…Sirius isn't like that,' James said hastily. 'You'll find out he's really good once you get to know him.'

'Yeah, you tell her, James!' Sirius said angrily. 'Honestly! What does she know about me to start judging me like that?'

'Really?' Lily said, sounding doubtful. 'Well, you always seemed like an arrogant bunch to me…I mean, Remus is okay, but…'

James flushed. 'Don't you think you're being a bit harsh here?' he said angrily. 'And if you think I'm so arrogant, why'd you agree to go out with me, anyway?'

Lily didn't flinch. 'I agreed to go out with you so you'd get off my back later on,' she replied, coolly.

'Ouch!' Sirius said, worriedly. 'No, no, no…this is going horribly wrong…drop the subject, James! Drop it!'

James tried to control his anger. 'Let's skip the sight-seeing and hit the Three Broomsticks,' he muttered.

'Okay,' she agreed, a triumphant smile hovering on her lips.

Sirius sighed. 'That's not exactly what I had in mind, but at least it worked and prevented a catastrophe,' he said wearily, and went after them into the Three Broomsticks. They found a table in a corner. James pulled out a chair for Lily, and sat down on the other. He let out an impatient sigh. 'Draw me a chair, will you? You don't expect me to remain standing the whole time, do you?'

James sighed in exasperation, pointed at a nearby chair and muttered, '_Mobiliarbus!_'. The chair hovered a few inches above the ground, flew over to their table and landed on the ground with a soft thud.

'Thanks!' Sirius said, plopping down on the chair.

Lily was now frowning at the chair, and for a moment, James thought she was actually able to see Sirius. 'You just can't resist, can you?' she said.

'Huh? Resist what?' he asked, confused.

Lily waved an impatient hand at the chair. 'You can't resist showing off! You have to keep showing people that you can do this spell and that spell!' she snapped.

'What?' James cried, baffled. 'But I wasn't…I didn't mean…I just drew it incase some one came and wanted to join us!'

'Where you waiting for a handicapped person?' she asked, her eyes narrowed.

'Handicapped…? What?' he said.

'I meant…' Lily said, speaking slowly. '…that unless the person was handicapped, they'd be able to draw a chair for themselves, don't you think?'

'But that wasn't what I had in mind!' he protested.

'Exactly, so you were just showing off,' Lily said.

'I wasn't…' James said, and glared daggers at Sirius, who was just humming softly to himself now. 'Forget it! Listen, what do you want me to get you?'

'A Butterbeer would be nice,' Lily said, smiling sweetly.

'Alright, two Butterbeers, then,' James said, getting up from the table.

'Three,' Sirius corrected him.

'If you want one, come along,' James muttered.

'Huh? Did you say something?' Lily said.

'Er…I was just saying I'll be back quickly,' James lied.

'Oh, okay…take your time,' Lily told him.

James walked away from the table, and he could hear Sirius trudging behind him. 'Listen, James, cool down, it could've been worse,' he said, soothingly.

'It can't be worse!' James hissed. 'Lily already thinks I'm a down-right freak! And we've only been together for fifteen minutes! And in case you haven't noticed, you aren't helping me in the least! She thought I was showing off just because I drew you a chair!'

'Ah…well, sorry about that, I didn't think of the consequences,' Sirius muttered apologetically.

'Forget it,' James said dismissively. 'Just make sure you do better during the rest of the date.'

'Relax, I promise everything'll go smoothly from now on,' Sirius told him.

'I hope so,' James muttered. He got to the bar, and Madam Rosmerta came up before him. 'Hello.'

'Well, hello, James,' the woman said cheerfully. She looked around him. 'And where might Sirius be? You never came in here without him!'

'Oh…Sirius is around here…somewhere,' James said quickly. 'Er…three Butterbeers, if you may please.'

'Oh, yes, of course,' she said. 'Three Butterbeers coming right up!' Madam Rosmerta poured out three foaming tankards of hot Butterbeers, and slid them across the shiny surface of the bar towards him. 'Six Sickles, please.'

James rummaged around his money bag for the Sickles. He extracted the money, and handed them to her. Then he carried the tankards and headed back to the table. He slid the third tankard

under the Cloak to Sirius before he got there. 'Here you go,' he said, handing the tankard to Lily, and sitting down on his chair.

'Thanks,' Lily said gratefully. She took a sip from her tankard and sighed. 'I've always loved this stuff.'

'Yeah, me too, it's really good, isn't it?' James said, after taking a swig from his own tankard.

'You know, Prongs…that's what your friends call you, isn't that right?' she said, and he nodded. 'Why do they call you Prongs, anyway?'

'Uh…just a random nickname,' James said hastily.

Lily nodded, although she didn't seem entirely convinced. She took another sip from her tankard. 'Well, anyway, I wanted to tell you that I really admire your Quidditch skills,' she told him, not quite meeting his eyes.

'Really? You do?' he said, surprised. 'But I thought you considered my skills in Quidditch as a way of showing-off too.'

'No, I don't, actually,' she replied, shaking her head. 'I considered the way you keep ruffling you hair to make it seem like you had just got off your broomstick as showing-off…but I don't deny that you're good on the pitch.'

'Thanks, that means a lot coming from you,' James said, grinning.

'Your welcome…oh, and good luck on your next match with Slytherin,' she told him. 'I really hope you win.'

'Thanks,' James said, yet again.

'This is going great,' Sirius congratulated him, and James jumped; for a moment, he had forgotten that Sirius was there. James slopped some Butterbeer on his robes and Sirius winced. 'Damn! I spoke too soon!'

Lily frowned as James furiously started wiping the Butterbeer of his robes. She pointed her wand at the stain. '_Scourgify!' _she muttered, and the stain vanished instantly. 'Is there something wrong?'

'N-no,' he stuttered. 'Just got a bit of a cramp, sorry.'

'And you would, it's really cold in here, even with the fire blazing,' Lily said, nodding at the fireplace.

'Uh-huh,' James said, not sure of what he should be saying.

'Excellent!' Sirius suddenly exclaimed. 'Look, James, there's Snivellus!'

James would never miss a chance to get at Severus Snape, but seeing as Lily hated it when he picked on people, he preferred to remain silent. Lily had seen Snape coming into the bar too, and her eyes were flicking between him and James; she obviously wanted to see whether James was going to pull another of his _arrogant _stunts in front of her. James wasn't about to do anything stupid; he was determindedly avoiding looking at Severus.

'C'mon, James! You can't let Snivelly walk away like that!' Sirius urged him.

'What are your preparations for your NEWTs?' Lily asked him.

'I haven't started studying yet…Remus has already drawn us some schedules and time-tables, and Peter has already starting memorizing his books…' James said, resolutely ignoring Sirius's nagging. 'Er…what about you?'

'I haven't started studying either, I've got too much homework,' she said. 'I could use some of these time-tables.'

'Sure, I'll tell Remus to make one for you, or I'll give you mine, or…' he said.

'_Impedimenta!_'

They heard a loud thud as someone fell onto the ground, and then several bursts of laughter. James and Lily looked around and saw that it was Snape who was on the ground, and he was struggling to get up against the spell which bound him.

Snape's eyes fell on James, and his face turned into a crimson mask of anger. 'You!! I had to know!! You're the one who did this!!' he bellowed, and followed this with a jumble of curses and swearing.

'James!' This time it was Lily. He looked around to see her glaring angrily at him. 'Leave him alone!'

'What? But I didn't do anything! That wasn't me! It was…' James yelped, and broke off as he heard Sirius laughing.

Lily got up to her feet and slammed her hands against the surface of the table. 'What do you mean it wasn't you? You're the only one around here with enough arrogance to curse some one even when they didn't do anything to you!!' she said angrily.

'But it wasn't me! I…' he protested, but he wasn't allowed to complete his sentence.

Snape had gotten up to his feet, pointed his wand at James, shouted, '_Expelliarmus_!', and James was pushed off his chair and to the ground. Fuming, James scrambled up to his feet, thrust his wand in Snape's direction and bellowed, '_Petrificus Totalus!_', and Snape capsized, looking incredibly stiff.

James looked around at Lily, but saw that she was already heading towards the door. 'No, Lily! Wait!' he shouted after her. He looked around at Sirius before running after her. Sirius had pulled off the Cloak, and was sitting there, holding his tankard and looking sheepish. 'Look what you've done!'

'I'm sorry, mate!' Sirius said. 'I just couldn't resist!'

'You were supposed to help me with Lily! Instead, you screwed up everything!' James said furiously.

'Well, I tried…' Sirius started.

'I'm going after her and see if I could fix the damage, and you just stay away, okay?' James said.

'James…' Sirius started.

James was already walking away. 'You're not coming!' he said firmly. He got to the pub's door and walked out.

'At least tell me what the counter spell is so I can talk to other people here!!' Sirius called after him, but James had already left. '…or don't.'

-

'Lily! Lily! Wait up!'

James caught up with her and he doubled over, panting. She rounded on him, and glared down at him, with her arms folded against her chest. 'What you did back there was foul, James!' she snapped.

'I swear it wasn't me!' James said. 'I didn't curse Snape…I didn't do it!'

'Who was it, then? The curse came from our table…or somewhere near it, and you were the only…' Lily said.

'I don't know, okay?' he interrupted her. He sighed. 'Listen; could you give me one more chance? And if anything happens, you can walk off and I won't follow you, alright?'

Lily hesitated for a moment. 'Okay, but just one chance,' she agreed.

James nodded, relief flooding his chest. 'Thanks,' he said, smiling.

**-**

**A/N: So, how did you like my second chapter? Was it good? If it was good, would you please send a review? I want to know what you think! And wait for my next chappie!!**

_- S. N. B. _


	3. Chapter 3

**D/C: I don't own Harry Potter, but I do have the books, though.**

**Hello! I'm back! Sorry I haven't updated in a long while, but, 1) I've been grounded, 2) I was recovering from the shock of reading the sixth book; Dumbledore died! (Sob!) Oh, I simply loathe Snape! **

**Ehm, anyway, thank you all for the reviews, and I hope you'll enjoy my third chapter. Happy Reading!**

**CHAPTER 3:**

'Where do you want to go now?'

James looked tentatively at Lily, who still looked a bit angry about what happened in the Three Broomsticks, although she had forgiven him. He really liked this girl, and he didn't want to upset her in any way…so he thought he'd just go along with whatever she decides and says for the remaining part of their date.

'Not in there…definitely,' Lily said, glancing at the bar. 'Let's just walk around and talk…what do you say?'

'Talking is good,' he agreed. 'Let's talk…what do you want to talk about?'

'Anything,' Lily said, as they started walking away from the Three Broomsticks. 'You come up with a topic.'

James racked his mind for something to talk about, and then he remembered something Sirius had told him before, "Girls love to talk about themselves…if a girl starts a conversation, make sure you continue to ask her stuff about herself."

'Okay…let's talk about hobbies,' he told her. 'What are your hobbies?'

Lily smiled. 'Well, let's see, I love reading mostly, and I like practicing spells, watching Quidditch…and I also like to collect coins,' she said, and he looked doubtfully at her. 'Yeah…I like collecting currencies from all over the world.'

'You collect Muggle money?' he said incredulously, and she nodded. 'But why the hell would you want to do that?'

'It's just a hobby,' Lily said wearily. 'What are _your _hobbies?'

'Well, I like playing Quidditch,' he told her.

'And…?' she prompted him, watching him out of the corner of her eye.

'There's reading…' James said, and looked a bit embarrassed all of a sudden. 'And I like sitting alone and fantasizing about my future.'

_That _caught Lily's attention. 'Really?' she said, sounding interested. 'And how do you picture your future?'

'Well, in my future, I'm a Curse-breaker…or some kind of employee at Gringotts, I'm married to the most beautiful wife ever and we have a lovely baby boy,' he murmured, a dreamy look crossing his features. 'I return home every evening after an exhausting day at work, and I find her waiting for me…we sit and have dinner together, and we spend a little quality time with our son before we retire to bed…'

Lily smiled, and that was her first genuine smile till now, at him. 'That's really sweet,' she said softly.

'You think?' he said, grinning at her. 'You're the first person I've ever told about this…I never tell my friends because I think they'll laugh about it like anything!'

Lily frowned. 'They mustn't laugh,' she said firmly. 'That was the sweetest thing I've ever heard.'

'Thanks, seriously,' he whispered, blushing faintly.

Lily smiled again. 'You know? It's funny,' she told him. 'I've never thought you'd like a quiet life…I assumed you'd go become an International Quidditch player, playing for England…I never thought you'd want to be married, but just to keep switching between girlfriends…'

James scowled. 'I'm offended,' he mumbled.

She laughed, and touched his arm. 'I'm sorry,' she said earnestly. 'I just never knew you that well, and I've formed ideas and thoughts according to what I saw.'

James smiled sheepishly. 'I suppose you thought that my head needed a bit of a deflation, eh?' he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

'No, you're okay…really,' she added at the quizzical look he shot her.

James smiled happily. 'What about you, then?' he asked. 'How does the future appear to you? Did those Divination classes pay off?'

'Nah, Divination's just a load of rubbish, if you ask me,' she said crossly. 'I just take it because I want to at least have 8 or 9 NEWTs.'

'Bit ambitious, aren't we?' he teased her, but she just pressed her lips tightly together and glared at him. 'Um…so you were telling me about your future?'

'I really haven't given it much thought, you know, even though Professor Slughorn keeps holding all those pamphlets and leaflets about wizarding careers under my nose, and asking me to decide before it was too late,' she said.

James smiled. 'You know I wasn't asking about that side of the future, Lily,' he said, gently.

Lily smiled weakly. 'Yeah, I know, I'm sorry,' she murmured. She looked away from him. 'I haven't given that much thought either.'

'Why not? I mean, this is your life we're talking about, don't you want any particular thing?' he asked.

'I dunno…I mean, of course I want to have a family and everything, but _Petunia _keeps saying how no decent person would want to have anything to do with me,' she mumbled. 'And y'know, maybe she's right…'

'Nonsense!' he said sharply. 'Why wouldn't any guy want you? You're perfect! You're smart, beautiful, funny…I think your sister's definition of decent is a Muggle!'

Lily didn't say anything for a moment, and he noticed that her cheeks were tinged with pink. He realized what he had just said and looked away, feeling really embarrassed. 'Thanks,' she suddenly said. 'That was very nice of you to say.'

'Um…yeah, you're welcome,' he murmured, sounding flustered.

They continued to walk in silence, although this time, it felt like a comfortable silence, and not an awkward one. James decided to break it anyway, and he grabbed Lily's hand, and started to pull her across the street.

'What's wrong? Where are you taking me?' she asked, curiously.

'You'll see,' he replied, grinning at her. 'Ever been up that hill?'

'No,' she said, frowning. 'Why?'

'You'll see,' he said, yet again.

'Quit saying that!' she protested, as he dragged her up the hill. She stumbled over some of the rocks. 'What's so interesting about a hill?'

Her foot caught on a rock and she started to fall face-down to the ground, but was saved the humiliation when James turned around and caught her in his arms. They remained in that position for a moment, before Lily finally pushed herself away from him and straightened up, blushing furiously.

'Thanks,' she murmured, looking anywhere but at him.

'Er…we'll walk more slowly now, okay?' he said, and she nodded.

They slowly made their way up the hill, Lily's hand tightly held in James's. Around them, night was starting to fall, but they just kept going up. They reached the top of the hill in another five minutes, and they stood panting slightly against the trunk of the old tree perched there, before James tapped her shoulder and told her to look around.

Lily immediately understood why he had brought her up here; the scenery was beautiful. She watched silently as the final threads of sunlight vanished from the sky, and turned to look down at the village of Hogsmeade as darkness settled around them; all the shops and stores in Hogsmeade had turned their lights on, and the village looked like a big slab of sparkling gold from up here.

A cold gust of wind blew against them and Lily wrapped her arms tightly around herself, shivering slightly and wishing she'd brought a jacket along with her, but she hadn't counted on James bringing her up here. James sensed her unease and immediately took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders.

'Thanks,' she whispered. She slid her arms into the sleeves and wrapped the jacket tightly around her. She looked at him and smiled. 'Thanks for bringing me here, James…everything looks so beautiful from up here.'

James rubbed the back of his neck, something he tended to do whenever he was nervous. 'You're welcome,' he said. 'I just thought you'd like it up here.'

'Yeah, I do,' she admitted. 'Do you come here often?'

'No…' he replied. 'I just come here when I feel the need to be alone, y'know?'

'I understand what you mean,' she said. 'This place is so nice and quiet.'

'I know, it's the best place to sit and think,' he told her.

Lily didn't look at him when she spoke again. 'You know, James? I'm glad I gave you a second chance,' she whispered so softly he was barely able to hear her.

'You are?' he said, looking surprised.

'Yeah,' she said, and smiled at him. 'If I didn't, I would've really missed a lot, wouldn't I?'

'Yeah, I suppose,' he murmured, not knowing whether he should feel happy or not.

'And more importantly,' she said softly. 'I wouldn't have been able to do _this_.'

It all happened so quickly. One moment Lily was talking, and the next moment, she was kissing him. She pulled away after a moment, and James, still too shocked for belief, saw that her face was a deep shade of magenta.

'Lily…' he whispered.

'And I really wouldn't have had the chance to know what an amazing person you are, James,' she continued, softly.

James was simply over-whelmed. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. Lily smiled and rested her head against his chest.

'I really don't know if I deserve your affection,' James said.

'You do,' she whispered. 'I just hope I'm worthy of yours.'

Together, they stood beneath the shade of the old tree, watching the sparkling slab of gold which was Hogsmeade. Only now did they fully appreciate how truly beautiful the village of Hogsmeade was.

**-**

**A/N: Aw, now wasn't that sweet? Let's see, one more chappie and this will be over and I'll rid you off me for good. But for now, plz review this chappie and wait for my last one!**

_**- **S. N. B. _


	4. Epilogue

**D/C: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Hello! I'm back with my final chappie! I'm glad you all liked my last one, since I thought it was stupid and crappy, so thank you for proving me wrong! I'll leave you to read now and I'll meet you at the end of this, okay?**

**Enjoy!**

**WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?**

**Epilogue:**

'Thank you, James, today's been really special,'

'Really? Um…sure, you're welcome,'

James and Lily stood facing each other before the portrait of the Fat Lady. They had stayed up on the hill for another half an hour, talking animatedly and comfortably with each other, before they decided it was becoming late and that it would be better if they returned to the castle. But now that they were back in the castle where it was crowded and filled with people, they felt the old nervousness return, and they were at loss of what to say to each other before they each went off to their dormitory.

'So…' Lily said, pushing a stray strand of her red hair behind her ear. She smiled nervously at him.

'I'll be seeing you tomorrow, then?' James asked.

'Oh, yes, of course,' Lily replied. She wringed her hands together. 'Ok, good night, then.'

'Yeah, good night,' James said, nodding his head slightly.

She smiled at him one more time before turning to face the Fat Lady to give her the password. James wanted to kick himself. _Say it! Say it, you idiot, before she goes inside!_

'Hey, Lily!' he started.

Lily looked at him expectantly. 'Yes, James?' she said tentatively.

'Um…I just wanted to say,' he murmured. 'I really like you, Lily.'

Lily beamed at him. She took a step towards him and gave him a slight peck on the cheek. 'Thanks for sharing, James,' she said softly. 'Because I like you, too.'

-

The portrait door swung open and Remus watched as two people climbed inside. He smirked slightly as he watched the two exchanging a quick goodnight, before one hurried off towards the staircase leading to the girls' dormitories, and the other strode over to his table.

'Hello, James!' he said, trying to keep a straight face, and Peter, who had been lying on the hearth rug beside the fireplace trying to complete a Defense Against the Dark Arts essay, sat up straight.

'James! You're back!' he exclaimed, grinning goofily.

James looked extremely flustered, not to mention happy. 'Yeah, hi,' he stuttered, sitting down on a vacant chair. 'So…what have you guys been doing?'

'Nothing,' Remus said. 'We returned from Hogsmeade pretty early, I had to do some reading for Arithmancy, and Peter here had to finish his essay.'

'Right,' James said, toying nervously with the edge of the table cloth.

'So…er,' Remus said, and cleared his throat. 'How did things between you and Lily go?'

'What? Oh, they were good…everything was good,' James said absently.

'Really?' Peter squeaked excitedly. 'Did you treat her well? Did she like you? Did you kiss her?'

If looks could kill, Peter would've been dead by now, because James was glaring at him now. Peter recoiled slightly. 'What happens between me and Lily is none of your business,' he said angrily. 'In fact, it's nobody's business.'

'Alright, alright,' Remus soothed him. He knew perfectly well that James wouldn't hide anything from them if it was a bad thing, and since James was hiding everything from them now, he assumed things had gone _really _well. 'You don't have to get all _touchy _about it.'

'Who's being touchy? I'm not touchy!' James exclaimed.

'No, of course you're not,' Remus said, smiling. If that wasn't touchy, he didn't know what it is. He turned around to Peter, who was still looking a bit frightened. 'Now, Peter, you were asking me about something?'

Feeling slightly disgruntled, James sank back into his chair. He looked around at the room. 'Hey, have you guys seen Sirius?' he asked, when he couldn't spot his best friend anywhere in the common room.

'Sirius?' Remus repeated, frowning slightly. 'No…come to think of it, we haven't seen him ever since we left to Hogsmeade.'

'Weird,' James murmured. 'Wonder where he could be.'

-

In the library, hidden underneath the Invisibility Cloak, with his ignited wand in one hand while the other hand traced the Index of a book, sat Sirius.

He seemed to have found what he wanted, because the next moment he was flipping quickly through the book to page 399. He pored over the page for a minute, eyes squinted in the dim light provided by the wand. He cursed angrily when he didn't find what he wanted and slammed the books shut.

He sat and listened for a moment to see if his movements had attracted any attention, before standing up and heading to the nearest bookshelf and running his finger along the leather-bound book titles, all the while cursing whoever had gone and checked out the book from which he and James had found their spell.

He decided on a book, pulled it from its place and slumped down at the table. He threw the book open and started searching.

_I'm going to find that counter spell no matter what!_

**-**

**A/N: Oh, poor Sirius! (grins) So, how did you like my last chappie? Was it good enough? I really hope it was, because I'm expecting reviews, people, so press that little purple button and send me one!**

**Oh, and I'd like to thank…**

**Lunattica, Shimmering Tear, Aevum, Sarah, Monica, Hp Snicket, serpentilewitch, SmellyCat190, Remmy ish Mine, geniunescence, alyce, sugarhigh4ever8, fairyPrincess, The Crooked One, fire-and-ice89, Lana, Lunar Blade, InuBecka, nessa, Pranks Are So Seriously Padfoot, Adelaide MacGregor, Strawberry'd, elise bentwin, Hikariz, wish upon a sock, missmunky, YourMommasWife, WeasleyGirl100, Zippy-Wings**

…**for reading and reviewing my story. Thanks!**

_- S. N. B. _


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